Entertainment

Former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg Accused of Deleting Key Emails in Lawsuit

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Former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg

Former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg has been sanctioned by a Delaware judge for allegedly using a personal Gmail account under a pseudonym and deleting emails relevant to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, despite a court order not to.

Sheryl Sandberg, the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Meta, is facing legal consequences just days after being criticized by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

According to a report in TechCrunch, a Delaware judge sanctioned Sandberg for allegedly deleting emails that were linked to the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The case stems from a shareholder lawsuit filed against Sandberg and former Meta board member Jeff Zients in late 2024. The lawsuit accuses them of using personal email accounts to discuss a 2018 lawsuit that alleged Facebook violated privacy laws and fiduciary duties regarding user data.

The plaintiffs claim that Sandberg and Zients deleted emails from their personal accounts despite a court order to preserve them.

The judge found the allegations credible and ruled that Sandberg had used a personal Gmail account under a pseudonym for communication related to the case. The judge also noted inconsistencies in Sandberg’s responses to questions, suggesting she selectively deleted emails instead of relying on an auto-delete function.

As a result, Sandberg’s burden of proof has been raised, and she must now prove her defense with “clear and convincing” evidence, a higher standard than usual. The judge also awarded certain expenses to the plaintiffs.

A spokesperson for Sandberg denied the allegations, stating that “all work emails were preserved on Facebook’s servers.”

The issue is part of a larger controversy involving Meta’s violation of a 2012 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) order, which prohibited the company from sharing user data without consent.

The company has faced significant penalties, including a $5 billion fine in 2019, for violations related to the misuse of data, including selling it to companies like Cambridge Analytica.

Written by
Sazid Kabir

I've loved music and writing all my life. That's why I started this blog. In my spare time, I make music and run this blog for fellow music fans.

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